The Israeli Colonies and Their Effect on the Population in the Governorate of Nablus

Abstract The Israeli colonies are known to represent one of the critical issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because it is directly related to sovereignty over the land and exploiting its resources. The issue of the colonies, which are spread over the Palestinian land, is also one of the most prominent issue discussed in the negotiations that aim at ending the conflict. The Palestinians, the indigenous people of the land and its legal owners, suffer, recurrently, from confiscation, expulsion and displacement policies that are practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities for the benefit of the Zionist colonial project in the West Bank. Therefore, this study aims at shedding light on the issue of the Israeli colonies in the West Bank with special focus on the Governorate of Nablus. This study comes in a sensitive and a critical period in the history of the Palestinian case, wherein the negotiations between the two parties are suspended because of the continuous expansion of colonies. This study explains the development and the expansion of the colonies and its effect on the population of Nablus. It is worth mentioning that these colonies have fatal repercussions that affect all aspects of the Palestinians life. While their land and water are confiscated and their movement is restricted, the settlers enjoy total freedom. This study aims to identify the geographical distribution of the Israeli colonies in the Governorate of Nablus. It follows a historical approach to obtain information regarding the stages of the colonies and their foundations. In addition to this, it examines the data and information that have been obtained using a descriptive and analytical method. This study has found that the Governorate of Nablus is the most vulnerable to be attacked by the colonizers. The most Palestinian communities, that are vulnerable to such attacks, are villages like Bourin, Qasra, Madama and Aseera Al-Qiblia. The total area sites of occupation form 44.6% of the total area of Nablus, the military camps from 0, 5% the colonies 3, 8%, the bypass roads 0.8%, the closed military land 17.5% the confiscated land beside colonies 12.1 % and the land that is impossible to be reached without coordination 9.9%. This study recommends encouraging residents in ruins and small Palestinian communities to maintain fidelity to land, not to leave it, to deliver services to it and to strengthen the role of the media according to its means to resist the Israeli colonial project in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian Authority has to carry out sustainable development especially in the field of agriculture and water which is highlighted by the colonial settlement in the Palestinian territories.